Automatic trip-valve.



0. A. ROSS. AUTOMATIC TRIP VALVE. APPLICATION 'FILED NovLn. 1910.

Patented Jan. 4, .1916.

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WITNESSES.- NVEN TOR.

OIA- ROSS. AUTOMATIC mu VALVE. 1 APPLICATION HLED NOV. 11; I910.

l flfiy glfi Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

1 m: INVENTOR 0. A. oss.

AUTOMATIC TRIP VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. H, 1910. 1 167316, Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

4 SHEETSQSHEET 4.

WITNESSES INVENTOR.

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OSCAR A. ROSS, OFROCHESTER, NEW'YORK, AssIeNon 'ro GENERAL siniwrrereaa COMPANY, or GATES, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or EW ORK I AUTOMATIC Terr-VA VE] Specification of Letters Patent.

Patente' lla i Application filed November 11, 1910. Serial No. 591,890.

To all whom it may concern:

. v Be it. known that I, OSCAR A.'Ross, a cititempts to zen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroeand State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Triplalve, of-wlnch the following is a specification.

My invention relates to valves whicliare adapted to berajutoina'tically tripped 'such as are used on railroad trains or engines for causing the train or engine to stop by venting the train line =-if the driver thereof atpass a fixed signal in the danger position. i a V The primary object of the invention is to so construct an automatic trip' valve that the driver of the vehicle on' which it is located will beabsolutely incapable of pro ceedin'g with his vehicle in a forward direction unless the trip arm of the automatic "not, when so depressed actuate the brakes to of an inexpensive and substantially con structed valve of the automat1otr1p valvein "the stop the vehicle, but which will when once depressed "remain-depressed until the driver stops and attempts to go forward whereupon the trip arm will immediately go to a vertical-or-o'per'at-ive position.

Another object; .,of ,the invention is the production of an automatic trip valve, which when actuated by ,the means placedal'ong the track to contact with the trip arm when the driver attempts to pass a signal at danger, will reduce the tra n line pressure of the air brake system onvthe train a certain' predetermined amount. t v A. still further ObJBCl; .13 the production tvpe.

Other o'bjects and advantages will appearfo o'wii'ig' specification andthe novel the" "devioe will 1 be=-part1cularily features i) v pointed "o1, ,inthe appendedzclalms.

The invention cons sts in the combinations, constructions and a1 n described and claimed.

, arm 1 will be depressed in the In describing the invention erence is had to the accolnp ings, whereinlike reference cha V note corresponding parts tin ugh; Y eral views, and in which: N

Figure 1 is a front elevathe 06 plete -device looking at the trip lever-side? Fig. 2 is a" longitudinal vertical section on the plane indicated by the line 2-2, ,Fig.,,3, looking in the direction of'tlie ain owsx EEigd 3 is a longitudinal horizonftalisectiol on thel plane indicated by the line-3+3 liliga2 lo'oking in the direction of the ar1 ows, withsome: parts unsectioned so as tomoreicleauly.Show the construction. Fig. 4 is ear elevationl inwhich the trip arm is she i1; rokeniaway; and the rear crank case cove JSdSlLOXK'IlMJG-f moved. Fig. ,5 is a .longitudi nal-t-ve-rtitali section of the cylinder onthe plane indi-. cated by the line 5 5 Fig. 3ilooking in the direction of the arrow. 1 3g; 6 is a vie of the outer face of the rotarysliclevalve -in the position it assumes if the t1- ip ariiiha s been depressed upon striking 'an obstaole when the train or car is tra elingforward: Fig. 7 is a view of the outer face of' the rotary slide valve in the position 'it t a'kes; when rotated by the trip -ai f 'de'pif se'd by striking an obstacle as it ravels' ifearward. 1

Constructions- 1 is a trip arm madeof a" very strong but light metal',1"wliichf his acts I .i .M; g with a suitable pro]ect1on 2, plac'edat any desired point on the ma attempts to pass a'signal n sition. If the ca1*' tt iwh cl tl trip valve is applied, is In "t the time the trip arnrl contaf her 2. the tripa'rm 1 will"b the direction indicated by i 1; if thelcar is moving re'arwardly dicated by arrowb, 1 The is rigidly connected" by cated end and a bolt??? square shaft 5', v hich car 7. said bushings being ci tion and forming a means the shaft in position, a s th'ey ini'a hole 8in' a castin .9 body of the automaticltr other fitting snugly in a hole in a cover 11, which cover is bolted to the main casting 9 by means of the bolts .12, 13, 14 and 15,

there'byfo'rming an inclosed crankcase space 16.. On the shaft 5 andin the space 16 two disks 17 and 18 are placed each bearing 'a. hub 19 and20'respectively'so' as to space them apart, and any suitable means may be employed to prevent them from movin '1on-' gitudinally of the shaft. ,The disks 1T and .18 bear circular projections 21 and 22 re.-"

spectively near their periphery and in a straight line one with the other and at the same 'distance.from the center ofthe square shaft 5. Through the projections 21 and 22 a hole is made in which ispinned acrank shaft 23 by means of the pinss24 and 25. The crank shaft passes through the end of a connecting rod 26, the other end of which bears a wrist pin 27 which fits into holes bored-into thesides of the interior of a' hollow piston 28 as shown in Fig.3. 1

The piston 28 reciprocates in the cylinder 29 which is bolted to the main casting means of the bolts 30 and 31 and two similar bolts on the other side of the device not shown in Fig. -1, there being aga'sket 33 between the two members. The piston 28 has a hole 34 therethrough' leading fromithe surface of contact of the piston and cylinder to the crank case space 16, and the cylinder 29 has a cored passage 35 in one side which connects at one end to a similar cored pas sage 36 in the side-of the main casting 9 and at the other end to the space between the end of t e piston 28 and the inside of the head of t e cylinder29, the gasket 33 pre-' venting'any leakage of air from the joint between the cylinder 29 andthe main casting 9.

37 designates an oil well at the top of the cylinder whichconnects with an oil groove 38 which conveysoil to lubricate the piston 28. and 39 designates an exhaust opening connecting the interior of the cylinder 29 to atmosphere, which may if thought desirable have a plug 40 screwed into it as shown in Fig. 4, through which any desired size hole may be drilled thus regulating the maximum rate of exhaust from the interior of the cylinder 29.

. At points approximately just above and just below'the projections 21 and 22 on the disks are formed knifeedge bearing members, those on disk 18 being designated by 41 and 42, the top one on disk 17 being designa'ted by 43 while 'the bottom one corresponding to 41 on disk 18 is not shown.

These knife edge bearing members on the be placed on the top of a car or train so as different disks are in line with each other 1S shownin Fig. 3 and bear against spring pressed reciprocating rods 60 and 61 having forked ends as shown in Fig. land which are.re ,etangular in cross section as far back from the forked ends as the stop shoulders extend .into a spring case 47 which is bolted t-o'the main casting 9 by means of the bolts 48 and 49 and two similar bolts on the other side not shown in Fi 1, but shown in Fig. 4.

The spring case 4 carries, at its end remote from the main casting, the projections 50 and 51 through which-holes are bored and in which are formed screw threads. "Screwed into the projections are the adjust- +ing screws 52 and 53 held in adjusted position by the lock nuts 54 and 55 respectively. The-ends of the adjusting'screws are rounded and project through the wall of the spring case 47 and into a countersunk depres'sion'in the head. of sto tubes 56 and 57. The projecting cylindrica ends 58 and 59 'ofthe reciprocating rods 60 and 61 fit slidably into the stop tubes 57 ,and 56, the stop tubes and reciprocating rods being separated as far as the. stop 43'and 44 bearing against the wall will permit by the action of the expansion springs 62 and The reciprocating rods 60- and-61 are prevented from turning about their longitudinal axes by reason of the fact that the rectangular shaped ends pass' through rectangular holes 64 in the end wall 65 of the spring case 47.

* The square shaft 5 has asshown in Fig. 3 a rotary slide valve 66 slipped over one end, the valve'having a square hole therein by reason ofwhich this may be done and by reason of which the rotary slide valve oscillates with the trip arm. .The rotary slide valve 66 seats upon a valve seat formed in themain casting at'67- through which the seat extends the ports 68, and 69 shown in Fig. 4,. these-ports connecting with the cored out chamber 36 leading to the cylinder 29. "In the slide valve are three ports, L70, 71 and 72 which under different conditions coincide with the ports 68 and 69 in the valve seat and supply: air to the cylinder 29 back of the piston 28. The air to the ports 70, 71 'and72 is supplied from the train pipe of the air brake system by means of a connection to the screw threaded. opening 73 i in the cover 74 which is bolted to the side of the main casting 9 by means of the bolts cover also carries a spring 76 which presses the rotary slide valve to its seat and prevents leakage of air from the cavity .75 to the passage 36. i

- The automatic 'trip valve may be placed either underneath the car or train so as to strike an obstacle onthe roadbed. or it may 0pe1'at2'0n-.If the trip arm 1 strikes obstacle 2 when going forward, that is going in the normal direction'of traffic, the trip arm will be depressed in the direction indicated byarrow a, Fig. 1. Such movement inder 29,'which of course causes an outward movement of piston 28 in cylinder 29. An outward movement of piston 28. communi cated to wrist pin 27, connectingrod 26 and crank pin 23 causes a rotary movement of the disks 17 and 18 in the direction of the arrow d, Fig. 2, thus causing a further rotation of the shaft 5 and the valve 66, in the same direction as before and so causing the ports in the rotary slide valve to extend fartherover the ports'in the slide valve seat, and thus causing anaccumulative result which is resisted at all stages by the resistance of the spring 63 pressing against the reciprocating rod 61 and through it tending to hold the knife edge bearing in their initial position, and through the disks 17 and 18 and the shaft 5 tending to hold the rotary slide valve in. initial position so that air cannot get to the cylinder29. v

The resistance of. the spring 63 is so adjusted however in the preferred embodiment 'that thetwo forces will; balance after air has been allowed to exhaust from opening 39 in the cylinder, due to the lapping of the port by; piston 28, to such an extent as to. reduce the normal train pipe pressureabout 35 pounds although it may-be so ad.-

. justed' as to reduce it any amount at which prcssure the piston 28 will just fail to open the exhaust port 39 and the trip arm will,

be depressed at an angle of about 60 de; grees to.the vertical and so be out of open. ative position. The time needed to effect this balance is regulated by the size of the exhaust opening 39, which may be Varied in the manner previously described to there by regulate the action of the brakes.

As after the trip arm has been depressed it will remain depressed in an inoperative position some means must-be used to 'restore it to operative position before the driver againstarts forward. In orderntoraccom plish this result the device is so balanced that a still further manual reduction, through the lordina ry engineers valve r'of the brake system, of a few pou'ndswill cause the leakage: channel 34- in the piston to lap the end .of the wall 77 of the passage 35 an'd'so allow the air to exhaust from said passage into the crank cavity 16 and around the belt openings to atmosphere thus allow ing the piston. to return to normal position and the-rotary slide-valve to also return to normal position cutting oif communication between the train pipe and the cylinder 29 whereupon the'trip arm also returns to normal operative position fready to be again struck and operated. v

It is further observed that it would be-impossible for the driver .to attempt to recharge the air brake system with any success withoutfirst returning the trip valve to normal position for any attempt todo so would only tend to force'the piston out of the cylinder still farther and increase the size of theavailable exhaust to atmosphere through the exhaust port 39, thus preventing the-recharging of the train line.

If the car carrying thetrip valve is traveling rearwardly or against the direction of traihe, then all track trips corresponding to the obstacle. 2 would be in any modern sig nal system employing track circuits in an operative position and thus by contacting with the trip arm cause it to be'depressed, but as it is not desired to cause the setting of the brakes under such conditions the de vice herein illustrated is so designed that contact with a track obstacle when running against traffic will depress the trip arm 1 in a direction the reverse of that in which it would be depressed if the car or vehicle were moving with traffic. Thus, if-the car was traveling against trafiic and the trip arm contacted with a track obstacle the trip arm would be depressed in the direction indicated by arrow k in F ig. 1, and through the shaft 5, the rotary slide'valve would be rotated in: .the direction indicated by the arrow, e in; Fig. 4', causing port 71 to lap port 68 and port 72 to lap port .69.v Asin the case when the-car was traveling with traflic the piston 28; is forced outwardly, but the disks l'iand 18 now revolve in the direction indicated by arrow 7 in Fig. 2 for the preliminary movement of the disks .17 and 18 caused by the trip arm being depressed in the direction of the arrow 1) in Fig. 1 has caused the crank pin 23 to'be raised above the center line jbiningthecenter of the shaft 5 and the "center of the wrist pin 27, so that the outward movement of piston 28 in c vlinder 29"ca.uses;a further rotation of disks 17 and18 in thedirection indicated. by arrow 7' in Fig. 2. 'llieirotative movement of the action .no exhaust fromthe train pipe takes traveling againsttratfic the driver must op erate the engineers valve causing a;reduc-- tion in train-pipe pressure, :but' by so doing he restores the trip arm to operativeposition by the same act, because any'reduction in the train line causes a corresponding reduction in the air pressureback of piston 28.

and allows the spring 62 ml force the piston back to such a point that the leakage port 3-l in the piston laps, theend w all of thev passage 35 and so allows all: air to escape.

from behind the piston and thetrip arm to return to normal position closing the ports in the rotary valve seat.,- It hasrbeen found in'p'ractice that avery slight reduction. suffices to accomplish the desired result when the spring 62 has been properly adjusted. It is to be further observed that crank pin 23 in the normal position is always the same -P shaft 5 for the reciprocating rods 60 and 61 have the rectangular portion of a certain definite length and they extendinto crank case 16 always the same amount due to the presence of the stops 43 and 44 and the fact that spring 62 is stronger than spring 63.

As there is always a liability of an air valve leaking provision has been made for such a contingency in this device by causing leakage groove 34: to lap the end wall of the passage 35, thus allowing the air entering the passage due to a gradual leak in valve 66 to pass to atmosphere and not gradually build up behind the piston and finally cause the trip 'arm to be depressed.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for'obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having particularly described the 'construction of one embodiment of my inven-' tion and explained theoperation and principle thereof, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. In an automatic valve, in combination, a source of compressed air, a member to be moved and means directly controlled by said member to hold the said member in. the moved position by the action of thecompressed air.

In an automatic valve, in combination,

a source of compressed air, a member to bemoved. a valve connected to said member and moved by the movement of said member and means directly controlled' by the movement of said valve to hold the said member in the moved position by the action of the compressed air.

3. In an autoniatic valve, in combination a member to betmpved, means acting mechanically on said member to movesaid member to its moved position, a valve connected to said member andmoved by the movement of said member, a. receiver for compressed air in communication with said valve, a cylinder, 'acavity connecting the .valve andthe cylinder, a piston in the cylinder connected to the said member, for holding the said member in its moved posi tion through-the action of the compressed air.

.4. In an automatic valve, in'combination a member to be moved, a cavity connected with a train line of an air brake system, the air-pressure in saidv cavity controlling the position of said member, and means for exhausting air from saidtrain line through said cavity by the movement of said member.

5. In an automatic valve, in combination a member to be moved, a cavity connected with a train line of an air brake system, the air-pressure in said cavity controlling the osition of said member, and means controlled by the movement of said member for opening an exhaust to effect a predetermined reduction of pressure in said'train line. r 6.- In an automatic valve, in combination a member to be moved, a cavity connected with a train line'of an air'brake system, the air-pressure in said cavity controlling the position of said member, and means for making a predetermined reductionof pres: 100 sure in said train line when the said member is moved, and means for restoringsaid movable member to initial position upon a further reduction of pressure in said train. line.

7. In an automatic valve, in combination a member to be moved, a cavity connected with a train line ofan air brake system, the airpressure in said cavity controlling the position of said member, and means for making 1 a predetermined reduction of pressure in said train line when the'said member is moved and means for 'restoring said movable member to initial position upon a further mined reduction is made, without restorin said member to initial. position.

9. In an automatic valve in combination a 134;

.5 said memb '20- ;means to prevent exhaust member adapted to be moved in either of two directions, a cavity connected to a train llne fanair' brake "system, the air-pressure -m" said cavity controlling the position of said train linevvhen "the saidmember is moved in one said direction the alr-pressure the position of "train line when said member is moved in the holdingthe said 11.v "Inian 'automatic'valve, in combination, a shaft, bearings for the shaft, disks onzthe shaft, a crank pin connected to the disks below the horizontal .center of said. shaft, bearings connected to the disks, 6 rod connected at one end tothe crank shaft,

er, means for exhausting air from and means to .sald tramline' c'ating Withthe cavity,

connected to a train means for exhausting air from said member is of-air from said a connectin a wrist connected to the other end of the connecting rod, a piston connected to the WIlShPlli', a cylinde'r in which the piston reciprocates, an exhaust port in the cylinder,', mg spring pressed rods bearing gainst the said a cavity .con- I a valve seat on which the said rotary valve oscillates, ports in the said cylinder, means foradjusting the pres: pring pressed reciprocating d position and air is exhausted from the train line, Whereas hen the shaft is moved in the other direction it is held substantially "n the moved p0-v sition but air is not exhausted from the said train line. i

c v OSCAR A. ROSS. Witnesses: l

HENRIETTA VosBnnGH, v T.= WHITNEY.

a leakage channel in the piston, reciprocat 

